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Education in basque


In response to the social demand for education in Basque, met from the 1960s by the ikastolas, Basque has now been included in the education system by all the regional governments in the Basque Country. The Basque Autonomous Community was the first to regulate education in Basque by law (1982). Public-sector teaching in Basque began in Navarre in 1986; in both cases, different linguistic models were provided at each school stage. In France, education through Basque depends on the ikastolas, which are run by social initiative with support for staff fees from the public educational system, and further help from the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. Despite some ups and downs, bilingual education has now attained a level of maturity and consolidation.

291. In the Basque Autonomous Community, education is governed by the Standardisation and Use of Basque Act 1982 and Decree 138/1983, which regulates the use of the two official languages at pre-university levels. It provides for three linguistic models, A, B and D and establishes guidelines for training teachers in Basque, setting out the minimum requirements to be met by teachers in the Basque language. 292. The linguistic models are as follows: In Model A, all teaching is through Spanish. Basque is taught as a separate subject. In Model B, the two languages are both used as a vehicle of education, in approximately equal proportions. In Model D all teaching is through Basque, with Spanish taught as a separate subject. 293. According to enrolment figures for 2010-2011, three out of every four new pupils in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, began their schooling in Model D (all Basque). 294. In 2010–2011, throughout the entire Basque Country, 300,277 children aged between 3 and 18 years were studying in Basque. In the Basque Autonomous Community, 195,790 were in Model D and 75,787 in Model B. In the Northern Basque Country, 1480 pupils were in Model D and 4,669 in Model B. In Navarre, 22,551 pupils, around 23% of the total, were in Models D and B, distributed in 114 schools. 295. Map of enrolment in primary education in the Basque Country for academic year 2004-2005. Published by the Basque Kultur Elkargoa foundation. 296. Studies show that in the Basque Autonomous Community, schools with Basque as their main language achieve the best academic results: in Primary, Secondary and Bachillerato (High School), the pass rate is higher in Model D schools. According to these figures, multilingual students, with Basque as their main language, emerge from the compulsory education stage better prepared, not only in their knowledge of the two official languages but in the other subjects as well. 297. The difference in the results is even greater at Bachillerato (high school) level. In the Basque Autonomous Community, the pass rate among Model D students in the second year of Bachillerato during 2008-2009 was 15 points higher than in schools giving classes mostly in Spanish. Specifically 81.4% of pupils in Model D passed, as opposed to 66.7% in Model A. These are not one-off results, but reflect a trend that has been repeated since 2004 in the public and private school network, and in all cycles since academic year 2004- 2005. 298. In Navarre too, Model D (Basque-language) students enjoyed a higher pass rate in the 2009 university matriculation exams (95.95%) than those who took the exams in Spanish (93.43%). 299. 299. In Navarre, teaching in the Basque language in the public system began in 1986. The following year for the first time, pupils could choose between linguistic models: 10,107 pupils in infant and primary education enrolled in Basque (13.34 %). The proportion has grown and in 2009 more than 20% of pupils were studying in Basque. For the last decade, Navarre has seen an increasing demand for schooling in Basque, which now accounts for around a quarter of all pupils. Of those who study in Basque, the majority do so in schools in the public network, and 27.5% in private ikastolas. 300. In their syllabuses and texts, teachers and publishers include content on the Basque Country and its famous figures, its history, culture, art, folklore and tradition, in accordance with the Basque school curriculum. 301. In the twenty-first century, the production of educational materials in Basque has become an ever larger business. Amongst the leading publishers who bring out new text books each year are Elkar, Erein, Ibaizabal, Ikastolen Elkartea, Ttartalo, Gaiak and Giltza. Schoolbooks now account for half of total sales of books in Basque.
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